In a pot, soak the channa and moong dal for about 1/2 hour. Puree the tomatoes and cilantro together to a paste.

Drain the water after soaking, and cook dal in a pressure cooker with double the water, the doodhi pieces, all the spice powders, tomato-cilantro paste, salt and the ginger-garlic paste. Cook on medium heat for two whistles.

Once opened, add the tamarind paste. And mash the dal, being careful not to mash the doodhi pieces.

23 October 2013

Food is such an important part of our day to day lives. We finish one meal and I am already in my mind thinking of menu for the next. When I go for my grocery shopping, it’s always related to what I want to cook.

With two kids(5 year old: Chatter Box, and 10 month old: Little Lady), full time work, busy family schedules, I really don’t get as much time as I would like for cooking. I more often than not, resort to my -quick Fixes, which HAVE to be healthy, presented well and above all delicious. I have three vegetarian foodies in my house already and the toothless Little Lady takes after us.

22 October 2013

Aah how times have changed! From the pursuit of the next gourmet recipe to create, to now scouting the web for healthy food options for the baby! This new phase still allows me to experiment with my love for cooking, but now with a whole new audience! Baby A! I enjoyed this soup as much as the baby did.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add the butter and cumin seeds and roast till they splutter. Add the onions and fry till translucent. Don't brown them. Add the carrots, ginger and water, cover and cook on medium heat for about 20 mins or till the carrots are tender. Take off the heat.

When cooled, use an emersion blender or transfer carrots to a blender and puree till smooth.

Cut potatoes into medium sized chunks and soak them in water. In a mixer, grind together 1/2 bunch cilantro, 2 green chillies and 3 mint leaves into a paste.

In a pan, heat the oil and ghee together till hot. Add the jeera seeds, and all the powders (except the pudina dhania masala) stirring so that they don't burn in the hot oil. When the powders smell fragrant, add the potatoes, empty the two cans of garbanzo beans with the water, and add the ground cilantro-mint masala. Add about 4 cups water, salt and cover and cook on a very low flame. Cooking time can be 1 hour. Let it simmer till the potatoes have cooked through, the garbanzo beans are disintegrating and the curry has started to thicken.

09 January 2013

Hola - Happy New Year! It's been a very long time. The Summer of 2012 was the busiest of my life - what with the multiple
farewells, baby showers, in-laws visits, babies and trips
back home! I hope 2013 doubles the fun from last year, and halves the stress!Here's a quick Chicken Fry recipe that has been made famous by my friend's husband -G. G is a fantastic cook, and I don't know anyone else who can make this recipe as awesome as it is.

Ingredients -

Onions - red - 1.5 finely chopped

Green chillies - 10 finely chopped (reduce number if you prefer the dish to be less spicy)

Oil - 2 swirls of the pan

Greek Yoghurt - 2 tbs

Chopped cilantro for garnish

To Marinate - 2 hours

Chicken - 1 lb - bone in. Chopped into bite sized pieces

Coriander pwd - 2 tbs

Cumin pwd - 2 tbs

Chilli pwd - 1 tbs

Turmeric pwd - 1/2 tsp

Tandoori Chicken Masala - 1 tsp

Ginger - Garlic paste - 2 tbs

Salt to taste

Mix all the items under "To Marinate" section and marinate for a couple of hours. Do not add yoghurt at this step.

The secret behind this recipe is the size of the pan - use the WIDEST pan you have, even if you have to place it on multiple burners. The wider the pan, the crispier the chicken!

In your widest pan, heat oil and then saute onions and chillies until they are browned.

Then add the marinated chicken, spread the chicken out so that the pan is not crowded. Individual pieces need to cook and slowly brown - this will take some time

Add the greek yoghurt half way thru to add some body to the gravy. Then continue to let the chicken pieces brown.

Once you see them cooked through and look brownish/crispy-ish like in the picture, you are done!